body positivity at carleton college and beyond

Body Positive Music

What music do you listen to when you want to feel good about your body? Sometimes I find that rocking out to M.I.A., Beyonce or Kanye West suits me just fine and makes me feel energized, happy and beautiful. Other times, I need something a little more explicitly body positive. Here are a few of the songs that make me feel good about my body:

Video-India.Arie
This is a pretty straight-forward song about loving your body, but it’s frankness doesn’t make it any less awesome. The first time I heard this song was when India.Arie performed it on SNL when I was in high school and it really stuck with me. It was just what I needed to hear at that time.

Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don’t
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won’t
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul.

I’m not the average girl from your video
And I ain’t built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen.

Big Girl (You are Beautiful)-Mika
Oh, Mika. While not totally PC, this song is pretty great and fun to work out to. And the video is pretty fab too.

Walks into the room
Feels like a big balloon,
I said, “Hey girls you are beautiful.”
Diet coke and a pizza please,
Diet coke I’m on my knees
Screaming, “Big girl you are beautiful!”

As Cool As I Am-Dar Williams
Otherwise known as the anthem of my sophomore fall term, this song isn’t expressly about bodies. Basically it’s about a woman refusing to let her partner tear her down and make her feel threatened by other women. It’s about sisterhood, liberating yourself from negative forces and people in your life and knowing you deserve love and respect. It makes me feel really empowered about my whole self, including my body.

You point, you have a word for every woman you can lay your eyes on,
Like you own them just because you bought the time,
And you turn to me, you say you hope I’m not threatened.

Oh — I’m not that petty,
As cool as I am, I thought you’d know this already,
I will not be afraid of women, I will not be afraid of women.

So, what about you? Leave your favorite body positive songs in the comments!